In The End
by i.make.sunbeams
Summary: AU. When tragedy strikes Sam Manson, she turns to the only friend she has. And when she feels like she has nothing left, he's the one that always catches her in the end. DS, indicated TJ. Probably OOC, sorry.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Danny Phantom.**

* * *

Danny let his eyes skim over the dimly lit room.

Class movies were the best time to observe faces, teachers would always work quietly at their desks, having watched the film so many times they could practically recite the script, leaving the students to do as they please, besides talk, and it gave Danny the chance to slip invisible, as he sat in the back of the room, and get to know his fellow classmates better.

He had always been an observer of sorts, and once while he was out with his mother, she had taken notice of this hobby and bought him a professional grade camera, telling him to take pictures of what he saw.

He thought it was kind of a lame present at first, but it quickly turned into something he couldn't live without, and his mother loved it too. His photography was hung all over the house.

She thought that he worked magic behind the lens and that he gave the world an edge it otherwise didn't have.

So, during in class movies he usually sat in the front of the room and just watched. Faces and how the eyes took in what they saw fascinated him. Some people watched the movies more intently than others, their eyes darting from one side of the projector screen to the other. Others just listened and waited for the cue of a question then scribble down a half-assed answer to get full points. While some, though surprisingly less common then he always thought, chose to sleep.

Danny rolled his eyes at Paulina who looked back to see if he was in his seat, having put on her best flirt face, then turned back in a huff, quickly scribbling something to Star before looking back again.

That girl was pathetic, really.

Yes, she was beautiful, he gave her that, he had plenty of pictures to prove it, but she was vain, and Danny found out quickly how vain she really was after taking her out on a date. It was really a horrible experience, and not something he liked to remember.

Since sophomore year, girls had started to take notice of him. Danny relished in the praise until it went to the next level. The level of "Creeper", as Tucker called it. And it was true. The girls only seemed to think about boys, it was concerning, really.

Danny was a heartthrob, and a lot of girls wanted to date him, but there were plenty of girls that didn't and he liked to thank them in his head when they passed him in the hall.

"Thank you, girl, for having a life." He'd think as they kissed their boyfriend on the cheek, not even giving him a side-glance as they walked by.

He let his eyes wander away from Paulina and around to the window, a place a rarely looked, he realized, as his eyes landed on a girl he'd never seen. He drifted closer to her as she took notes from the movie, her short black hair covering her face slightly.

Danny gasped as she looked up, not expecting the sight he saw before him.

She was gorgeous.

Why hadn't he ever noticed her before?

He felt himself become tangible and fall to the floor with a soft 'thunk', thankfully still invisible. But apparently the sound his shoes made against the tile wasn't as soft as he hoped, making the girl, and a few others, jump then look at one another, searching for an answer. Danny quickly went intangible once more and floated back to his seat, slumping back into view.

"Blow your cover over there, buddy?" Tucker whispered, chuckling. Danny shot him a glare, which made the boy chuckle harder and lean away from his friend. "So I take it wasn't on purpose?" he asked when he had calmed down.

Danny looked at the desktop.

"No, I don't know what happened..." his voice was quiet, and Tucker had to lean in to catch what he had said. Danny put his head down on the desk, raking his fingers through his hair to let them rest on his neck.

Tucker looked over to where he had heard Danny slip.

It was right in front of Samantha Manson's desk.

His eyes widened. "Dude, who's desk were you in front of?" he asked, watching closely as Danny hesitated, then lifted his head and pointed to said girl's back, then returned to beating himself up for losing control.

Tucker stared at him.

"Do you know who that is?" he whispered urgently. Danny shook his head, not moving up from his spot. "That's Samantha Manson. I hear she's crazy." Danny turned his head to look at his friend.

"So I thought she was cute? It's not like I'm gonna ask her on a date." He said, irritated. "And you don't know first hand that she's crazy, you shouldn't listen to rumors, Tuck."

Tucker leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms and reverting his gaze to the screen when he saw the teacher give him a look. "You're right."

Danny grunted approvingly and hid his face again.

Tucker sat back and looked at his friend, thinking.

"Maybe you should talk to her?" he reasoned. Danny lifted his head.

"Yeah, cause that would go over well. 'Oh, I was invisible and noticed how cute you were, do you want to hang out sometime?'" Tucker rolled his eyes at his purist friend. "I don't think it work, Tuck."

"You don't have to ask her on a date, D." Tucker said, chuckling. "Just talk to her. I don't know, she gets picked on a lot," that got his attention, Tucker knew it would, hero complex and all. "Stand up for her, you know?" Danny rested his head on his hands, looking at the girl.

"Yeah." He muttered. "I could do that."

Tucker watched his friend. He hadn't seen that look since Paulina. "Was she really that cute?" he asked, he saw Danny's cheeks flush and he sat up quickly, picking up his pencil and looking at the screen.

"She was okay, I guess, I don't know." He rambled quietly. "Yeah, she was cute, just let it go, Tuck. It doesn't matter."

Tucker shook his head and smiled.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, Tucker, really!" Danny grumbled, gripping his lunch tray tightly. "I can do this on my own! I'm fully capable!"

Tucker laughed at his friend's red face. "Okay, okay, sorry for being helpful!" Danny rolled his eyes and sat down, putting his tray down on the table a little louder than he had planned, earning some odd looks from his peers. "Dude, chill, I'm just giving you a hard time, really." Tucker said sitting across from his friend.

"What should I say to her, Tuck?" Danny asked, looking a little desperate. Tucker looked past him.

"Maybe it's not what you say to her." He said, using his spork to point behind his friend. Danny turned around to see Dash and Paulina standing menacingly over the small girl in question. Danny's heart dropped and he stood quickly, walking over to the three.

"Who do you think you are, Manson?" Dash growled. The girl looked legitimately scared of Dash, which just made Danny walk faster over to her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him before giving Dash a shove and crossing his arms.

"Leave her alone, Dash, she didn't do anything to you." Danny felt her hands gripping his shirt and glared harder at Dash.

"Mind your own business, Fenton." He said, a little less menacingly. Danny loved being taller than the blonde quarterback.

Danny stood his ground, glaring. Dash rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever, keep her away from me." He said, turning, grabbing Paulina's wrist and dragging her away as she made lovey faces at Danny.

Danny continued to glare for a few more seconds before turning and taking Sam out of the lunchroom and into the courtyard. She was shaking, and Danny sat her down on a bench and knelt in front of her.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. Her head was down and she nodded.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"You're welcome." Danny whispered, "Why was he harassing you?"

Sam sighed. "He holds grudges." She said, wiping her eyes. "We used to date, and I broke up with him, he didn't like it."

Danny's eyes widened. "You dated him?"

Sam scoffed. "I know, right?" she smiled at him, making him blush. "Worst idea I ever had." Danny resisted the urge to hold her legs as he sat in front of her.

No need to freak her out more that she already was.

She was really very beautiful.

Danny felt his cheeks go hot and he stood, wiping his pants off idly. He watched as she stood also, wiping her skirt off.

"Thanks again, Danny." She said, smiling up at him.

Danny paused and gave her a look.

"Everyone knows who you are, Fenton." She said evenly, shrugging as if it was nothing. "It's hard not to when you're all that half the girls in this school talk about."

He smirked, "And are you one of those girls?" he asked, expecting her to blush and stammer, but instead all he got was a very dry, "You wish." as she pushed past him, if he wasn't the observer he was he would've never noticed the smile on her face as she passed.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**

"Hey, Fenturd." Danny jumped when he heard a smooth female voice whisper that instead of the nasally jock. He swiveled around quickly, in search of the voice, blushing when he got laughing lavender eyes in return.

"He-hey," he said, gripping the back of his chair. Since when was she in this class? And since when did she sit right behind him?

"I heard Lancer's assigning a partner project today," She said, leaning back in her seat, picking at her black fingernails. "How much you want to bet you get stuck with Shewolf?"

Danny snorted in laughter. "Yeah, probably, it would be my luck." He watched as her eyes sparkled up at him, making his ears turn pink. Really? He had just met her and she was already having such an affect on him!

"Thinking hard, or hardly thinking?" she said, leaning forwards again, her face close to his. Her breath was minty.

"Har-har." He said, sticking his tongue out and turning around as the bell rang, regaining his composure.

"As you very well may know, we are beginning a project today," Danny turned and smiled at Sam, who just looked smug. "And for this project I will be assigning each one of you a partner, now this person is going to be someone I feel that you don't necessarily already have a relationship with." Lancer explained. Danny's heart lightened a bit, he knew practically everyone besides the Manson girl, who still hadn't introduced herself, he realized, so that meant that he had a good chance of getting paired with her.

"Now listen up for your names, and when I'm done calling everyone you can move next to your partner and I'll tell you about your project." Everyone sat on the edge of their seat, hoping to not get paired with the snot-nosed band geek, or the goth Manson girl, except for Danny, who was praying to get paired with her.

There were some quiet grumbles every once and a while when someone didn't like their partner, and Danny was feeling anxious. His name hadn't been called yet and the chances were getting sketchy.

"... Miss Manson and Mister Fenton..." Mr. Lancer's voice droned out. Danny smiled wide and let out the breath he was holding in.

"You got lucky, Fenton." He heard Sam mutter as Lancer finished calling out the last of the names.

"Alright, class, move to sit with your partners and get out a sheet of paper and a writing utensil so I can tell you what you'll be doing."

Danny was on cloud nine. Whoever was watching over them finally decided that all of Danny's good deeds had earned him some good karma. He wrote what Lancer was telling them, but didn't really comprehend it, all he was thinking about was getting the chance to get to know Samantha Manson, the most beautiful and most reserved girl in school. When the bell rang, signaling that it was time to leave the rat's nest the government called school he felt a finger tap his shoulder he looked to his left, seeing no one he looked to his right quickly, only to be met with a smiling goth, she laughed and turned.

"See you later, Fenterino." She said, giggling as she left the classroom.

Danny blushed and gathered his things quickly, so he could catch up with her, but when he got to the hall way, there was no hope, it was flooded with students, and she was so small, there was no way he could find her. He frowned and went to his locker, opening it and shoving the things he wouldn't need into it.

"Are you stalking me?" he heard next to him.

How was this possible?!

He turned his head quickly and looked down at the girl he couldn't stop thinking about.

"No, Miss Manson, I believe _you're_ stalking _me_." He said back earning a small smile from the lavender lips of Sam.

"You caught me." She said, struggling with her locker combination.

"Need help?" he asked shutting his locker and leaning against it. She glared at him quickly before turning back to the locked locker.

"No, I'm fully capable." She said, turning the dial faster, looking down at the paper with the combination, as if it would open it for her. Danny smirked.

"Okay, then, Manson. I'll see you later. Good luck with that." He turned slowly, walking away and counting down in his head.

Three, two...

"Wait!" Danny's smirk grew into a grin; he suppressed it and turned to look at the girl once more.

"Yes?" she glared at him.

"Please." She said angrily.

"Please, what?" Danny asked, leaning in.

She glared at him harder; he could almost feel her eyes boring holes in his head. Danny held his ground and watched as she rolled her eyes and turned around.

"Forget it." She said, trying to open her locker once more. Danny smiled softly and went up to her taking the paper and putting his hand over hers on the lock.

She blushed and pulled away from him, quickly regaining her attitude and leaning against the locker next to him when she felt the flush fade.

"I was just joking around," he said looking at her as he tugged the locker open. She smiled a little and pushed herself off the cold metal, opening her bag and putting the contents in.

"I know, I need to work on not taking things so seriously." She said, shutting her locker and taking the paper with the combination solemnly when he offered it back to her. "Thank you." She shoved it in the pocket of her coat.

"No problem." He said, looking at her. He could listen to her voice all day. "Do you want to go get a coffee or something?" he asked, shoving his thumb over his shoulder. Her eyes sparkled again, making him blush softly.

"I would love to, but I can't, I have to go to work." She said, beginning to walk. Danny walked with her.

"I could bring you one." He offered. Sam looked at him for a moment before smiling.

"I think you got some extra sweet put in you when we were being made." She said, looking at him critically. "That would be amazing, though, thank you."

"Of course." He said.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they walked through the main doors of the school.

"We're do you work?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"The antique bookstore. I went there every day, and when I turned sixteen they offered me a job." She said, buttoning up her coat against the wind and looking up at him.

"That's cool, I work right next to there, bringing you a coffee will be super easy." He said, smiling.

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where do you work?"

"The coffee shop," Danny laughed. "I'm a barista. Baristo, whatever you want to call it." Sam giggled.

They quieted again as another comfortable silence fell over them.

"You know," Danny mused, "you never introduced yourself." He looked down at her, she continued looking forward.

"You know my name, don't you?" she asked. Danny blushed.

"Yes."

"Then what's the point?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Danny shrugged, "Tradition's sake, I guess." She made a small noise in the back of her throat and nodded slowly. Danny could almost see the gears in her head turning, trying to come up with a response.

"I'm not typically one for tradition, but what the heck." She said, stopping and turning to face him. "I'm Sam." Danny smiled cheekily and put his hand in hers, shaking once.

"Nice to finally meet you, Sam. I'm Danny." He said, pulling his hand away slowly, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin against his callused palm. She threw her head back and laughed as they walked once more.

"How did you get so sweet, Fenton?" Sam asked, jokingly, shoving him gently. He shrugged and smiled down at her, enjoying the sound of her laughter. It was really too bad they had just met; he would really like to take her to dinner.

He felt like he wanted to know everything about her.

As that thought passed through his brain he realized that he had never thought that about anyone before. And at the same time he knew just how true it was. He wanted to know what made her tick, he wanted to know her flaws and her strengths, wanted to know what made her laugh and what made her cry, what made her mad and what made her swoon.

And he wanted to be the one that made her feel all those things.

He couldn't tell her that of course.

Not yet.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**

When they got to her work she stopped in front of the door.

"I know for a fact that we close before you do, my boss goes to you every day after we close up shop." Sam said, pulling her coat around her tighter as the wind began to blow.

Danny stood closer to her, hoping to block the wind for her.

"Yeah, I make his drink every day, he gets a twelve ounce white chocolate raspberry mocha, no whip." He said smiling. Sam giggled.

"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" she said, looking up at him, she couldn't help but smile at his goofy face. He was so silly, and his smile was so contagious. She wasn't sure if she could handle it.

He was definitely cramping her goth style, that was for sure.

"So does that mean you're coming after you close?" he asked, blushing as she grasped his arms and pulled him away from the door with her, smiling at a woman who walked in. Danny looked the woman, and then at Sam's hands, which were still on his arms, then to her eyes, which were light and laughing.

"Yes. I'll come to the coffee shop and wait for you to finish, then you can make us coffee and we can work on our project," she offered. "How does that sound?"

Danny nodded, "That sounds great!" He said, smiling at her.

He couldn't stop smiling, he just felt giddy. She shook her head, trying to hold in her laughter.

"You're too cute, Fenterilla. And you're gonna make me late, so scoot," She said pushing him away gently. "I'll see you at seven."

Danny nodded and began to walk away, waving at her as she entered her bookstore; she waved back at left his sight.

When he entered the small coffee shop he didn't even hear his co-workers tell him to change into his work clothes quick because the middle school was out in five minutes, which meant they'd soon be bombarded by the preteen rush, he was too enveloped in his head.

She thought he was cute.

* * *

The preteen invasion always made Danny and his co-workers grumpy, they were loud and annoying, especially once they got the caffeine in them. He always secretly wished that they'd all go to Starbucks and leave their poor little coffee shop alone. It never did anything to deserve middle school kids running around in it. But if they actually did that, the small coffee shop on the corner would be out of business for sure.

His annoyed attitude was diminished as the doorbell jingled and he saw Sam and Dr. Jones, the owner of the bookstore walk in. She smiled at him and looked around the coffee shop.

"You're the only one here, Danny." She said, walking up to the counter, Dr. Jones not far behind.

"Yep, you just missed closing time," he said, wiping his hands on his apron before grabbing a cup for the older man's drink. "The usual for you Dr. Jones?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, Danny, thank you." The older man said, lacing his fingers behind his back and walking up to one of the photos against the wall.

"How about you, tiny. What'll ya have?" he asked, smiling at her. She leaned against the counter, looking up at the hand-written menu.

"Surprise me." She said, smirking at him. His smile grew.

"I love it when people say that." He said, grabbing a cup and getting started on the two drinks. "Any preferences on milk?" he asked, looking at her.

"Soy, please." She said, going over to Dr. Jones, also looking at the photo. "Did you take this picture, Danny?" she asked, looking at the artist nametag, which said "Dan F." in a feign hope that people wouldn't make the connection.

Danny froze and blushed, he had forgotten about the pictures.

"Yes." He said carefully, slowly going back to the drinks.

"It's beautiful. How did you take it? It looks like you must've been above the clouds." She said, looking at him.

"Oh," he said, wiping his hands again. "I was in a plane." He lied easily. She nodded and looked back at the photograph. "Here you go, Dr. Jones." He said handing the other man his drink. "See you tomorrow."

"Thank you, son," he said, taking the drink and fishing his keys from his pocket. "Have a good night you two." They both smiled at him as he walked through the door.

"How did you really take that picture, Danny?" she asked when her boss was gone, walking over to the counter. He looked at her.

"What do you mean? You think I'm lying?" he challenged, pouring milk into a mug.

"Yes." She said simply. He looked at her evenly, slowly setting the milk carton back on the counter.

"And how did you gather that?" he asked, this was getting dangerous. He didn't look at her, but continued to make their drinks slowly. She leaned in.

"Because _you're_ Danny Phantom." She said, looking at him to gage his response.

His eyes widened and the mug in his hands slipped through his now invisible fingers, crashing to the floor, but thankfully not shattering.

"H-how did you know?" he stammered, leaning down to clean his mess, she laughed and went around the counter to help him.

"I didn't." she said. Danny's eyes widened and he gasped, looking at her in horror. "But I do now." She said happily. Danny just stared at her. "I mean, I was pretty sure, but now I know it's true!"

How could she?

She turned to him smiling, but the smile faded when she saw the look on his face.

"I won't tell anyone," she said quietly. "I promise." Danny said nothing and looked away from her cleaning the mess up before standing and pouring the milk into a different mug. Sam stood next to him, looking up at him, her eyes darted around his face, which had become emotionless.

Danny finished making their drinks and moved past her, setting them on a table next to two lounge chairs. He moved back to her, taking her coat, which was folded on her arm, and hung it on the coat tree next to the door.

Realizing he was busying himself so he could avoid talking to her, she stopped him from going back behind the counter.

"I'm sorry." Sam said, putting a hand on his chest so he couldn't get past. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that you'd get so upset, I should've waited." She watched him for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist slowly, pulling him into a hug, the only thing she could think of doing, and rested her head over his heart.

It was then she realized just how real the idea of him being half dead was.

His heart didn't beat like hers did. It didn't pulse against her ear and it sounded far away and tired.

Like it was forcing it's self to beat.

To keep his human half… human.

Danny snaked his arms around her shoulders, holding her tightly.

"I won't tell." She repeated, looking up at him, his face was emotionless, but his eyes were not. She watched as different feelings all made their way in and out as he looked back at her, trying to gage if he should trust her or not. "I promise," Sam said again. "You're the only friend I've got at the moment, I don't want to lose you when I just met you." She said, her words getting quieter as she spoke.

He continued to stare, letting her words sink in, before he pulled her back into him.

"I trust you." He muttered.

Sam let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in and relaxed into his embrace.

"I trust you."


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**

Danny lay in bed throwing a ball up in the air and catching it repeatedly, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.

She knew, and she had tricked him into validating it for her.

She was smart.

As the ball came down again he held it, looking at the marbled design of the soft material.

The rest of the night had gone semi-normally. She hadn't asked about his powers, they instead worked on their project, asking about each other's lives. Danny watched her carefully, to be sure she wasn't going to pull out some sort of ghost catching device.

Sure he was being paranoid, but he had every right. Some how she had known, or at least had a hunch…

But how?

She never asked him to go-ghost, or shoot a ray beam; instead, she just let him be, let him set the boundaries. And when he insisted that he fly her home instead of making her walk all alone on a Friday at ten-o-clock at night, she didn't object.

When he had settled her on her balcony, after getting over the fact that she was the richest girl in town, and possibly in all of Minnesota, she touched his face, running her thumb across his cheek, over the scar he had gotten a couple years ago right on his cheek bone, smiled at him, and retreated into her house.

He floated there, wondering if she was on the phone telling the Men In White that the most powerful ghost of all was hovering right outside her window, and that she knew his secret.

But when no one came, he made his way home, turning back into Danny Fenton, and walking in the front door.

It was quiet.

His parents were out of town for the weekend, and Jazz was in college on a full scholarship. So he was alone.

He had always had a love/hate relationship with being alone. He loved the quiet, and the calm that settled over an empty house. But he hated the alone part.

_I wish Sam was here_, he thought before he could stop himself.

No, no. He most certainly did _not _wish Sam were there; Sam was the root of his dilemma at the moment.

He threw the ball against the wall and grabbed his remote forcefully, turning on the television to the news.

Danny loved the news.

Call him vein but he loved being _on_ the news.

No, not because he wanted attention, but there were still skeptics out there, and he wanted to prove to them that he wasn't the bad guy and he wanted to help. He had lots of hecklers that wanted to get him arrested for being a ghost. As he let those thoughts pass and he focused on the news, he suddenly wished he hadn't turned on the TV.

"… _The police dispatcher got a call not long ago from our local heiress, Samantha Manson, who was hysterical, telling them that her father had killed her mother and grandmother and that he was also dead. Police arrived on the scene as soon as they could and found Miss Manson sitting on her doorstep, shaking and telling them that she wouldn't go into the house…" _

Danny's eyes were saucers, and he flew out of the house and towards Sam's mansion. Deciding it was best that he show up as Fenton and not Phantom he changed behind a tree, running over to the police tape, only to be stopped by a burly fire man.

"I'm sorry, we can't let anyone through, this is a crime scene." He said, putting a hand on Danny's chest.

"Sam's my friend, please!" Danny yelled, trying to see around the man. Danny was tall, standing at a full six foot one, but this man was huge.

"Danny!" Sam must've heard him because she ran over to them, in tears, and dragged him under the yellow tape, before hugging him tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rocked her side-to-side. "How could he do this to me?" she sobbed against him.

Danny had no answer. So instead he just pet her hair and tried to soothe her. He, of course, avoided making any noises, because when someone was using you as a human pillow, it was instinct to say, "It's okay, and it'll be okay."

But this wasn't okay.

Nothing about this situation was okay.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered, when she calmed, her hands taking fist fills of his shirt. Danny stayed quiet another moment, running his fingers through her hair.

"You could stay with me." He said. Sam pulled away from him so she could look him in the eye. "You're eighteen, they can't tell you no." Danny said, using his newfound knowledge of her because of their project. Her swollen eyes glazed over as she thought about this possibility. He took the time to wipe her cheeks with his sleeve, trying to be rid of her tears.

"You're only seventeen." She said quietly. It was true, Danny was seventeen, and he would be for another eight-and-a-half months. He was the youngest senior that Casper High had ever seen, having been born on September first; he just barely missed the cut-off date.

"So?" he asked, not seeing a problem. Sure he was only seventeen, but she wasn't. She was an adult. She could do what she wanted. He watched as she retreated back into her mind, trying to come up with reasons that this plan wouldn't work.

"Miss Manson?" A female police officer came up to them, Sam turned in Danny's arms, not letting go of him.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice nasally from her tears, she sniffled and blinked, trying to regain her strong composure.

"Have you thought about where you will be staying? Since you're technically an adult you have the choice." She said, touching Sam's arm. "Are you going to stay with your boyfriend?"

Danny stiffened, about to correct the officer that they weren't a couple, and that they had just met today, well technically yesterday by now. But he decided against it, not wanting to make things more complicated.

"Yes," Sam said quietly. "I would like to." The officer nodded, looking from Danny and back to Sam.

"Okay, your house is quarantined for the next month, at least," the officer said carefully, Danny felt Sam's hand tighten on his shirt behind them, and she drew in a shaky breath. "So I hope you have everything you may need. We'll keep you posted, and here's my card," the officer handed Sam her business card. "Call me if you need anything, okay, hon?" Sam nodded; she felt a wave of tears crash over her and turned back into Danny's chest.

"Do you two need a ride home?" A male officer came up to them, resting a hand on Danny's shoulder; he nodded down to the short man and led Sam to the cruiser.

The rest of the night was a blur.

The officer dropped them off at the Fenton household, Danny held Sam on the couch until she cried herself to sleep, which took a while, he carried her into Jazz's old room, which was now the guest bedroom, tidied up the house, and flew.

And now he was in Sam's room gathering clothes for her.

He wasn't really sure what had brought him to do this, but for some reason it felt like it's what she would've wanted anyways. As he put the last article of clothing in the large suitcase he surveyed the room, looking for something else she may want.

Grabbing a backpack, he put a small photograph of her and her parents and grandmother in, a few stuffed animals, and what he hoped was her purse in the bag. He knew that she had her school backpack with her because it was leaning against the wall next to the front door of his house. Taking one last glance around her room he decided he had what he needed and took off, flying quickly back to his house.

Looking at the clock, he sighed. It was almost three, he hadn't even felt tired, but when his eyes met the green glow of his microwave oven's numbers, the sleepiness hit him like a brick wall.

Changing back into Fenton, he slowly trudged up the stares, opening the guest bedroom door and setting the suitcase and backpack next to it. Glancing at Sam he smiled a bit. She was snoring softly because of all the tears, and her makeup was all over her face, but Danny couldn't help but feel something for her.

He thought she was so beautiful, even in this horrible state she was in.

Yawning, he closed the door and went to his own room, not even bothering to change out of his clothes, or get under the covers for that matter, and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

"Danny?"

Danny stirred slightly at his name, but didn't wake.

Sam sat on the edge of his bed leaning over him; he had sprawled out on his back and was snoring loudly. It was quite a sight, really. She smiled a little and set her hands on his chest, rocking him softly.

"Danny, Danny, Danny! Wake up!" that got him.

He woke up with a start, sitting up so fast that he ran into her head. They both reeled back, holding their foreheads, and hissing in pain.

They looked at each other, eyes teary, and laughed.

He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned in, falling back onto his pillow, still laughing. She calmed first, watching as his laughter died down into fits of chuckles before he quieted all together and looked at her, still smiling.

"Good morning!" he said, holding her tighter against him. She laced her fingers on his chest and rested her chin against them, looking at the scar under his eye. "How are you?" he asked carefully, his smile fading, moving his hands behind his head.

She turned her head to look out the window and shrugged. "I'm not sure, to be honest." Danny looked down at her, watching her eyelashes move as she blinked at looked around. "I think I might be in denial." She said quietly. "But I have no more tears, so that's good." She looked at him again, smiling a little. "I have to take everything in stride, you know?" He nodded.

She watched him as his gaze moved to the ceiling. He was very handsome. And so kind.

"Hey, Danny?" she said quietly, her eyes resting again on his scar. He looked down at her and smiled. "Can I ask you something?" she leaned her cheek on her hand. He moved his hands from behind his head and rested them on her back.

"Of course, anything." He said.

There were no secrets between them, he felt, and he had only known her for less than a day. It was amazing.

"How did you get that scar?" she asked. He stared at her for a moment, his mind racing on which scar she could be talking about, "the one under your eye."

Ah.

Right.

"Ghost." He said, remembering the fight clearly. "He caught my sister, she's got a nasty scar on her back from the fight. I almost didn't win." He chuckled solemnly. "Well… actually… I didn't win. He was a half a centimeter away from taking my eye out and the reason why the scar is so nasty is because he cut so deep he scratched my skull." Sam gasped.

"Oh my gosh." She breathed.

"You want to know what the worst part is?" he asked, dreading what he was about to say.

"What?" she asked, fully enthralled by his story.

"He got away." He whispered. "He got away, and disappeared. He broke my leg, arm, collarbone, a couple ribs, practically scratched my face off, and he got away." He looked away from her then. "It's my fault. He's out there somewhere plotting, probably hurting people, and it's my fault." He muttered, this was the first time he had ever talked to anyone about it, he realized as his heart began to feel heavy.

"There's nothing you could've done, Danny, by the sounds of it, and you and your sister are both alive, and that's all that matters." She said, reaching up and brushing his bangs from his forehead. "You're amazing." She whispered. He looked down at her. "You're so amazing."

"I feel like I've known you forever," he said quietly. She blushed softly.

"I feel the same way, to be honest." She muttered, pulling her hand back. "Why do you think that is?" Danny thought for a moment before answering the way he thought his sister would.

"Because we've experienced a traumatic event together." He said, matter of factly. "That… and we trust each other. Trust always brings people together. Aaaaaaaaand, probably the fact that we're partners on that silly project which involves us knowing and asking things about one another helps too." He said, smiling. She giggled and scooted up to his face, kissing the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you." She said quietly, smiling gently. He blinked.

"For what?" he asked, his entire face red.

"For everything."

* * *

How they had gone from just laying on his bed watching Saturday morning cartoons, to kissing was beyond him.

All Danny knew was that she started it, he liked it, and the only reason she was doing this was probably to not think about her parents, which most likely meant that he was taking advantage of her.

And of course the small noises she was making every few seconds didn't help the situation.

Deepening the kiss, Sam eased his mouth open the slightest bit, taking his lower lip into her mouth. He groaned and held her tighter.

It was then that his body decided that he wanted to be in control of this kiss, instead of her. Slowly pushing them up into sitting positions he continued to kiss her. He rested his hand on her neck, running his thumb across her pulse.

Since he no longer had a pulse, or one you couldn't feel it at least, he had found that he relished in the feeling of blood flowing under someone's skin. Straying from her lips he kissed down to her neck, resting his lips on her pulse he froze, taking in the feeling of life against his mouth.

She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair, leaning her head down to lay feather soft kisses against his shoulder, which was exposed because of the wife beater he wore.

He held her tighter, moving his lips back up to hers, she purred quietly and welcomed him, caressing the back of his head gently.

His hands slipped under her shirt, running his fingers over her ribs, she was so small.

They both froze when Danny's cell phone began to ring. They pulled away from each other, blushing. Sam smiled at him, running her hands down to his shoulders. He leaned in, kissing her quickly, before grabbing his phone and flipping it open.

"Hello?" Danny winced when his mother's voice came through the receiver. It didn't seem quite fair that his mom got to call him when Sam…

"Snow storm?" he quipped, giving Sam a look, she looked at the window again, before getting off the bed silently to actually look _out_ the window. "That's okay," Danny watched Sam, listening as his mother showered him with questions. "Yeah, I'll be fine, I have a friend over. Yes, I have enough money. No, I don't need Jazz. I'm a big boy, I can handle it, mom." He stiffened when the word left his mouth, eyeing Sam carefully; she winced and didn't look at him. "Mom, I gotta go." He said quietly. "Yes, yes. I love you too." By then he couldn't look at Sam, guilt was flooding over him in waves. "Bye."

He closed the phone and set it next to him, looking at the spot where she had been sitting a few moments ago. A heavy silence settled over them.

"I just don't understand." She whispered, his head snapped to her.

"Sam…" he muttered, at a loss for words. He was never good with words, he was a good hugger, and could get almost anyone to smile, but words?

He would've been better off as a mute.

"I think…" she said quietly, her eyes darting around the floor, thinking of the best way to word what she was trying to say. "I think I need to be alone for a while." She left his room, her head down, and went to the room he had put her in early this morning.

Danny didn't go after her. He instead stood and walked over to the window. There was definitely snow on the ground.

The storm must have come through that morning right when Danny had fallen asleep and moved on to where his parents were stuck and couldn't leave until the snow melted a bit. They were going to drive home tomorrow, but that was most definitely not happening.

Danny watched as a few fresh flakes began to fall, his brows furrowing, setting his face into a hard glare.

He hated the snow.


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**

When Danny had finally pulled himself away from the window he busied himself by cleaning the house.

Danny loved cleaning, and his house was usually just a little too chaotic for his taste, so he always enjoyed it when he got to clean a quiet house. He never touched the basement of course. The basement was in perfect messy order, if he moved anything, his big lug father wouldn't be able to find it.

He tried his hardest not to think about Sam, but when he found himself pacing past the guest bedroom door every few minutes he decided he needed to call Jazz.

Tapping his fingers against the counter he rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Come on, Jazz." He muttered, beginning to feel anxious. Just as the last ring was about to rear it's head, Jazz picked up the phone, sounding a little frantic.

"Hello?" she said, out of breath. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know?" he asked, settling his anger low in his stomach. He heard her scoff and he could picture her brushing her short hair out of her face.

"Get your head out of the gutter, little brother," she said, he rolled his eyes. "Mom called and said that a snow storm hit." She said. Danny nodded, sitting in one of the dining room chairs.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "It sucks." He heard her try to stifle a chuckle.

"Oh, Danny, it's just frozen rain." She said warmly, he grimaced.

"No. No, it's not." He said angrily. "It's snow, and it's stupid." She laughed then, and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

He hadn't really realized how close he and his sister were until she left. They talked at least twice a week, and when they called each other, they would be on the phone for hours.

"Was there something you needed? There's not much I can do for you right away, but I can try." She said calmly. Danny sighed.

"Yes," he rested his forehead on his hand. "It's a long story, so sit down somewhere." He heard shuffling in the background.

"Okay, I'm ready." She said carefully. Danny looked at the tiled floor and told her what had happened the past two days.

When he finished his story she was silent for a moment, drinking in everything he had said to her.

"And she kissed you?" she asked, trying to piece everything together.

"Yes," he said quietly, remembering what happened a few hours ago. "I kissed her back obviously, I wasn't going to push her off." He could see Jazz nodding.

"I think that you need to leave her be. It's normal for someone that's just gone through something like she has to act the way she is. Just be kind to her, which I know you are, and let her set the rules. She might be in there for a few days, or she may be out in a few minutes, try to keep an ear out for her, and make sure she's eating and drinking water. Don't let her sink to far away from reality, does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Danny muttered. "So I should just leave her alone?" he asked, looking at the ceiling when he heard movement. His room was above the kitchen, which meant that she might be in there looking for him.

"Yes." She said, "Let her come to you." Danny heard her sigh. "I'm sorry, little brother, but I have to go. Call me tonight if you need to, okay?"

"Alright, Jazz, thank you." He said, standing slowly.

"You're welcome, Danny, I love you." Danny nodded, moving to the entryway of the kitchen.

"Love you too." He said, pulling the phone away from his ear and hanging it back on the wall as he passed by.

They had taken to saying the 'L' word to each other after Danny got his powers. Jazz was always scared that the conversation they were having would be the last conversation they'd ever have, and made him say it back. He didn't mind, he thought it was a good idea, because he _did_ love Jazz, and he didn't want the last words she remembered him by to be harsh words either.

When he rounded the corner to the hallway, facing the stairs, Danny saw Sam standing three steps up. She was crying and he stood awkwardly, watching her, remembering his sister's words.

"I thought you left." She said quietly, looking at him. She looked so scared. Danny smiled at her and went to her, circling his arms around her waist, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, holding him tightly. She was a little bit taller than him standing on the stair, and Danny laid his head on her shoulder.

"I would never." He said quietly, holding her shaking form close to him. "I would never leave you." He kissed her neck gently before resting his head under her chin, rubbing her back soothingly.

She held his head, leaning against his thick hair, taking deep breaths to calm her self down.

When she quieted he pulled away, looking at her, smiling, he wiped her tears with his thumb.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, blushing a little as she fingered the hem of his shirt idly, shaking her head. "Thirsty?" she froze, looking at him, contemplating whether she was or not.

Just as he as about to ask again she nodded.

"What would you like?" He stepped back, holding her waist at arms length, her fingers brushed his shoulders, not able to reach him the way he could her.

"Hot chocolate?" she offered quietly, focusing on his eyes instead of his scar.

He had told her last night in the coffee shop that he was self-conscious about it, he worried that the scar was the only thing people saw when they looked at him.

But with eyes like that?

They were such a stark contrast to his dark lashes, and they were so filled with emotion, it was hard to not get lost in them. When she refocused back to reality, he was smiling at her.

He was always smiling at her.

She had seen so many emotions go through is face the past two days, she was amazed that one person could feel so much in such a little time. But the one thing that he did the most was smile.

He was so happy.

She briefly wondered if he was always this happy, but little tick-mark scars on his arms told another story.

Was it so bad? Was life so bad at one point that he had tried to get away from it?

Deciding to push those thoughts away until later she followed him into the kitchen.

"You picked a good drink. I make a mean hot chocolate." He said opening the fridge, when his eyes landed on a carton of soymilk he pulled it out hesitantly. "And apparently we have… soymilk…" he looked at it quizzically. "How in the…" he looked at her, she smiled coyly. "Did you get this?" he asked, setting it on the counter.

She shrugged, leaning against the table. He laughed.

"When did you get this?" he said, getting the cocoa from the cupboard.

"This morning, I woke up early, and raided the kitchen, saw you didn't have any, and went and got some." She said, watching as he poured the milk into a saucepan, setting it on the stove. "I'm sorry."

He scoffed. "Don't even be, you're staying here for a while, you can do whatever you want." He turned, filling another saucepan with water, setting the top on the pot he turned at looked at her, leaning against the counter. "The only problem with my world famous hot chocolate is that it take a bit to make." She smiled at him, and blushed a little when he motioned her over, walking into his embrace.

"Are you incapable of not having human contact?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him and setting her chin on his chest so she could look at him.

"You'd be amazed at how many times I've heard that." He said, chuckling. She giggled and turned her head away, resting her ear where his heart should beat.

"I don't think I would be." She said evenly, he laughed, holding her closer. "Something's boiling." Sam said, pulling away as his laughter turned into fits of giggles, he turned, uncapping the water and setting the steamer plate on top, Sam watched carefully as he poured the dark chocolate morsels into the plate, and capped it again.

"Now we have to wait for the chocolate to melt and we'll be set." He said, turning back to her and crossing his arms over his chest. Sam looked up at him, letting a small smile grace her features as he beamed down to her.

"How tall are you, Danny?" She asked, looking at his messy hair.

"Six foot one." He said proudly, standing a bit straighter. "I'm not done yet either, my dad's six seven." Her eyes widened. "I know. He's a big guy, it's the reason all our doors are so tall, and all of our entryways just go up to the ceiling. Big guy." He looked down to her. "How short are you?" he said cheekily, leaning down to be eye level with her.

She glared at him, "I'm five three, thank you." She said, putting her nose in the air and crossing her arms. Danny smiled at her warmly, leaning in further, kissing her cheek quickly before standing straight once more.

"You're welcome," he said, turning again to the stove, stirring the chocolate. "Can you go into that cupboard there and get us a couple mugs?" he pointed to his left. She nodded, suppressing her blush.

Sam opened the yellow cabinet and looked up. The mugs were at the top.

Of course.

She came off her top toes and glared at the wall, slowly turning and giving the same look to Danny, who was waiting to see her reaction.

"You're a jerk." She said, not moving. He smiled at her, walking over to her and grabbed the mugs from above her head. Sam looked at his chest when he leaned over her, taking in how his muscles moved under the simple white t-shirt.

"That's alright," he said, setting the minimalist mugs on the counter. "I think I can handle being a jerk." He winked at her, and she turned quickly, closing the cupboard, and not turning until she was sure that her face was once again pale.

When she walked back to him he had finished mixing the drinks and was sprinkling a layer of powdered sugar over the top.

"Alright." He said, eyeing his work. "Let's hope they're as good as they usually are. I'm not used to soy." He said, handing her a cup, she took it in both of her hands, holding it close. It was so warm. Danny watched her carefully as she took a sip. "How is it?"

Her eyes widened and she looked into the glass like it had sprouted eyes.

"It's amazing!" she said, looking at him. Danny exhaled and brought his own cup to his lips, taking a drink.

It was all right, he didn't really like soy, but it wasn't the worst taste ever.

* * *

It might be a little bit until I update again, this is all I have so far.

We'll see if I have the time.

Thank you so much for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Danny was confused, which was understandable of course, because Sam was being confusing.

Which was inevitable in of it's self, her parents just died; she didn't know how to feel. Danny was just so emotionally attached to her already that when she felt sad he did too, and when she was happy, he was overjoyed. But his emotions always came after hers, he couldn't predict when she was going to down spiral, and he was starting to get frustrated.

He really wouldn't mind a ghost attack right now.

He sighed and rested his head against his arms, which were currently folded on top of his desk.

Looking out the window, he grumbled as fresh flakes fell from the sky. He hated the snow, but was appreciating it now because it gave Sam more time to get through her ordeal.

The police would come, she was probably a suspect. They needed a testimony. From her and from him, because even though he had never even seen Sam's parents, or knew they existed until a couple days ago, he was with Sam during the shooting, which could've meant that they had done it together.

Or some nonsense.

He was starting to fall asleep when his phone vibrated against his thigh. Pulling it out he flipped it open.

"Hey, Tucker." He said, rubbing his face. "What's up?"

"Dude!" his voice was loud and excited, Danny knew then what he was going to say. "Snow!"

Danny grumbled. "Yeah, Tuck, snow." He said, rolling his eyes. "You know, I can make my own snow, right?"

"Dude, get ready to go out in the snow, man. This is gonna happen. I'm coming to your house right now. Just let it happen."

"Where the heck are we going to go?" he asked, getting more and more annoyed. Tucker knew he hated the snow, en yet, every time it snowed, which was a lot, Tucker insisted they go be out in it.

Danny was cold enough every day of his life, he didn't need snow.

"Dan, we're just going to go, just be free, in the snow."

"It's not even a school day, I don't even get anything out of this." It was then that he realized the situation he was in and how big of an out he had.

This realization made him smile.

"I can't go." He said, leaning back in his chair, feeling pleased.

"What? Why?" the crunching of his footsteps stopped in Danny's ear. "What does that mean?"

"I have a guest over." Danny said simply.

"A… guest?" They were silent as Tucker chewed on this thought. "A girl guest?" Danny blushed.

"I don't have to answer that." He said, gripping the phone tighter. He heard Tucker's laughter on the other end and considered hanging up. He didn't do well with being laughed at.

"Dude! What the heck?" Danny heard the crunching start again. "Why didn't you tell me that you were secretly seeing someone? Is it that Manson girl? You won her over that quick?"

Danny swallowed, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions. "We're not together. And she's here because of a…" he tried to place his worlds gently. "A family emergency."

"A family emergency? So you're playing shrink?" he asked.

"Pretty much," he said, tapping his fingers against the wood table. "I had to call Jazz and ask her about what was going on. You know how well I am with words." Tucker chuckled.

"Oh yeah, you're the best." Danny rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, I can't come. She's cooped up in Jazz's room. She's been there all morning, which is understandable, I guess."

"What happened?" Tucker asked, still crunching.

"Did you watch the news last night?" Danny said, running his hand through his hair. Tucker probably knew what happened, but just hadn't made the connection.

"Yeah! Did you see that story about the shooting it was…" Danny waited. "Oh. _Oh_. Dude." The crunching stopped. "That sucks. That really sucks. And she's staying with you? Why is she with you?"

"She's with me because, as sad as it sounds, I'm the only one she's got right now, and she's eighteen, so she can do whatever she wants." Danny swiveled in his chair, watching the ceiling as he spun.

"Isn't she a suspect?" There was no crunching, Danny wondered why but that thought left as soon as it entered when the doorbell rang.

Danny didn't move.

There was silence until he heard Tucker's teeth chatter on the other end.

"Dude, answer the door. It's cold."

Danny sighed loudly and closed his cell phone, pushing himself off the chair and walking down the stairs slowly, pausing in front of the door, debating whether to let his friend in or not.

When Tucker pounded on the door, he opened it a little, sticking his head out, letting his techno-geek friend feel the warmth radiating from inside.

"Yes?" he said slowly, not moving when Tucker put his hand on the door.

"Dude, you suck, it's, like, twenty degrees out here. Let me in." Danny smiled cheekily.

"What's the password?" he asked, gazing at his friend, who was shivering a little.

"Vagina."

Danny froze, letting the most disgusting word in the English language fall on his ears.

"Excuse me?" he asked, trying to rid the word from his brain.

"It's what you'll have if you don't open the door!" Tucker said, pushing on the door, Danny laughed and pulled the door open quickly, he tried not to collapse from delight as Tucker stumbled into the house, having just put all his weight into a door that was no longer in front of him.

He recomposed him self and glared at his half-ghost friend, taking his coat off.

"I hate you."


	8. Chapter 8

"I really don't want to go, Tucker," Danny said, glancing at Tucker who was sitting at his computer. "I hate the snow, and, honestly, so do you. You like the idea of snow, Tuck." He said, rummaging through his closet, he was going to lose this battle, he knew, but at least he'd put up a fight for it. "And besides, Sam hasn't been out of the room in a while, she might be asleep."

Tucker turned, giving Danny an accusing look.

"I love the snow." Danny glared at him. "I love it so much." He huffed and turned back to the screen. "Most amazing thing on the planet, snow. And go wake Sam up, she needs to get out of the house."

Danny sighed, turning back to his closet, finally finding his vest. "Jazz said to leave her alone." He said quietly, zipping up his vest. "But we can't leave without her, she'll think I abandoned her." He said shoving his hands in his pockets. "And I don't know if I grabbed her good snow clothes."

"Stop making excuses, bud, just go get her." Tucker said, not turning from the monitor. Danny grumbled, tempted to throw something at his friend's head, and stormed out before his mind got the chance to conjure something up.

He took a deep breath to quell his anger and tapped on the door, he waited, listening for movement, when he heard nothing he tapped again saying a quiet "Sam?" just to make sure that when he opened the door there wouldn't be a half naked angry goth on the other side. When he was met with silence again he opened the door slowly, poking his head in, it was dark and he smiled when he saw a sleeping Sam curled around a pillow.

He entered the room, closing the door gently so Tucker wouldn't barge in and say something totally gross.

Moving to the bed, he sat on the edge, running his hand over her short hair. She stirred, opening her eyes and twisting her head around to look at him.

"Hey," he said quietly, folding his hands in his lap. She stared at him, trying to gather herself.

"What time is it?" Her voice was hoarse.

"About two," his hand moved back to her hair, smoothing it back from her face. Her eyes drifted shut, she looked so small. "My friend is over, he wants to go play in the snow. He's a freak." She smiled, opening her eyes a little. "I want you to come."

Sam sat up and Danny rested his hand on the bed, leaning on it for support. He watched as she stretched, working out any kinks that were in her back, he was tempted to wrap his arms around her, but resisted, he was such a touchy-feely person, he cursed his father for giving him that gene... and every other gene.

She watched him closely, he looked like he wanted something from her, but was too embarrassed to ask. It was odd, he was so shy sometimes, even though they'd already gone through so much.

"What, Danny?" She leaned over to him, touching his arm, "What's wrong?" He put his hand on her waist, leaning forward, his hand sliding up to her ribs. Sam gasped quietly as his lips reached her neck, she squeezed his arm gently, closing her eyes. "Danny." She muttered. He pulled away from her.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, running his thumb across her shirt once before pulling his hand away slowly, lacing his fingers on his legs. "Do you want to come with us?" He asked quietly. She leaned up on her knees, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

"Yes." She said, pulling her head back, he watched her carefully. "I'll only take a second," she lifted the covers and crawled out of the bed. "I think I saw some leggings in the suitcase you brought me," he watched her crouch down in front of the bag, realizing then where his eyes were, he blushed and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

He really needed to take her on a date, this was so backwards.

Standing, he wiped his hands on his jeans, "I'll be in my room, kay? We'll wait for you in there." He put his hand on the door nob and she stood up, an arm full of clothes and smiled at him.

"Okay, Danny" he wanted to kiss her.

He really wanted to kiss her.

"Thank you for bringing my stuff, Danny, I never thanked you." She walked closer to him and stood up on her toes. Relief rushed over him and he leaned his head down, letting her kiss his cheek.

"You're welcome." He said, exiting the room. When he walked back into his room Tucker turned in his chair, smiling smugly at Danny.

"You asked her on a date yet?" Danny scoffed.

"You're so inconsiderate." He said, grabbing his camera from his bed side table. "Her parents just died, dude. I'm not asking her on a date."

"But you want to." It wasn't a question, Danny looked up into his friend's eyes. "I take it she's not insane like the rumors say."

"She's definitely not. She's..." Danny tried. He tried to pick a word for Sam, it was impossible. "Awesome. She's awesome."

"Oh?" Tucker leaned back. "Awesome? This is a first for you. You didn't even think Paulina was awesome."

"I thought Paulina... I don't know what I thought Paulina was," he laughed. "Whatever I thought was completely wrong."

Tucker laughed also, he remembered the Paulina days clearly.

Danny fell silent, listening for Sam before the next words left his mouth. "We kissed." Tucker quieted.

"Oh really? Who started it?"

"She did." He sat down on his bed, fiddling with with some buttons on his camera. "Now I can't get her out of my head. It's horrible."

"Well, is she cute? I haven't ever seen her up close."

"Very."

"What's the problem then? If you're going to have one face in your head all the time, why not a cute one?" Tucker stood, fixing his jeans and stretching. "We going outside?"

"Yeah, she's changing, she should be out soon." Danny said.

"Or now." Tucker said, looking at the door, Danny turned also and smiled at her. "Hey cutie, ready to get smoked in a snowball fight?" Sam gave Tucker look.

"I'll have you know, sir, I am a pro snow ball fighter." She said tucking herself under Danny's arm. He blushed and gripped her shoulder.

"Oh!" Tucker laughed, "sassy pants! I like it, I'll have you know that Danny's a cheat. He pulls some ghost strings and he can make his own snow." Sam looked up at Danny who just rolled his eyes.

"I'm not any part of this, I'm going to take pictures." He said, removing his arm from Sam and taking the lens cap off his camera as Tucker led them out of Danny's room, laughing with Sam.

Having Sam know about his powers was such a relief. He didn't have to pretend, and neither did Tucker, who he had told she knew. The two boys relished in being able to be open about Danny's powers in front of someone else other than each other and Jazz. A lot of tension built up between them sometimes.

"Oh dude you and your camera." Tucker said, nudging Sam "don't mess around with that camera, it's his baby." Sam smiled at Danny as they exited the house.

"Well, he takes good pictures." Sam said, Danny smiled down at her.

"Thanks." Sam nodded and crossed her arms as the stepped into the snow.

"It is cold." She said, shivering instantly. "Who's idea was this" she laughed, trying to cover up her distaste for the cold.

"Tucker's. He's an idiot." Danny said, bringing his camera up to his eye, snapping a quick picture of his two friends.

"You're just jealous." Tucker said, throwing a small handful of snow at Sam. She gasped and scooped her own snow and chased him around the deserted road. "Oh, jeez, she's fast!" He yelled, Danny smiled when he heard a scream and Sam laugh.

* * *

The snow fight was cut short when Tucker's cell phone rang.

Apparently he hadn't told his mother he was going out.

Tucker's mom didn't roll like that.

So Danny flew him home, one arm around each of his friends, Tucker was used to being flown places, but Sam was most definitely not. He had flown her that first night they met, but it was dark and cloudy, there was really nothing to enjoy, but this flight was different. It was bright and on the way back to his house, Danny carried her in a way that he could watch her face.

The way that her face drank in her surroundings was beautiful.

"So," he said as their feet touched the tiled floor of his kitchen. "Sorry about Tucker, he can be pretty frank. He has no filter." Sam smiled up at him, her hand still on his chest.

"It's alright, he's funny." Danny chuckled and shifted back into Fenton, watching as she shivered and pulled away from him.

"Does that hurt?" he asked, eyes darting about her face, gauging her reaction.

Sam shook her head. "No, it tickles, and it's cold." She said, shrugging her coat off. "Thank you for inviting me today. You didn't have to do that." She laid her coat on the back of a chair, then pulled it out to sit.

"Of course I did." Danny said, fallowing her lead and sitting across from her. "You photograph really well by the way." he said, looking through the pictures he had taken of her on his camera.

"Gross, but thank you." Danny smiled up at her, then continued to look at the photos.

"I'd like to do a photo shoot with you." He said, catching her off guard, he laughed at the look on her face. "I'm serious! I haven't done a photo shoot in a while, and you're beautiful." She blushed.

"Thank you. But I've never been a model before." She said. "I don't know how."

"Don't worry, it's easy." He said, setting his camera aside. "All you have to do is look pretty." A steady silence fell over them. Not uncomfortable, but just quiet.

"You said you haven't done a photo shoot in a while." Danny looked at her. "How many photo shoots have you done?"

"A bunch. I did a lot of our class' senior photos. I made bank on that." he said, laughing. "It was fun." Sam smiled at him.

"You enjoy photography." she said, leaning on her hand.

"Yeah, I do." he said.

Just as Danny was going to speak again, he was cut off by his phone ringing in his pocket. He sighed and pulled it out. It was his mom.

Flipping it open, he put it up to his ear. "Hi, is everything okay?" he asked, not bothering to wait for a greeting.

What was the point of waiting to hear who was on the other end when you knew?

Sam watched as Danny listened to his mother on the other side of the phone, the fact that it was indeed his mother unknown to her.

"I did." he said. Sam tried to listen to who was on the other end and what the two could possibly be talking about, she got an idea when Danny spoke again. "She is. We actually have to talk about that." Danny stood then, walking out of the kitchen, touching her shoulder on the way out. Sam knew then what they were talking about.

They were talking about her.

"She's staying here right now, and I was wondering if she could stay with us until she gets back on her feet." he said, leaning against the wall away from the kitchen, out of earshot of Sam. This was going to be rough, no one liked to be talked about.

"Honey, I have to meet her first." his mother said on the other side. "I can't tell you to tell her to leave, because I'm not there right now, but I'm trusting you to use your best judgment."

"I know." he said quietly.

"It's sweet of you to take her in, Danny. She's lucky to have you helping her." Danny waited. "What room is she staying in?" she asked.

"Jazz's old room." Danny said, eying the entryway to the kitchen.

"Alright," Maddie said. "I have to go, but I trust you, take care of her. We'll be home as soon as possible."

"Okay, mom." he said, pushing himself off the wall.

"Okay. Love you, Danny."

"Love you too." Danny sighed and flipped his phone shut, walking back into the kitchen. "You're staying." he said.

Sam turned and looked at him.

"That was my mom," he sat back down in his old seat. "I told her you were here, and she said that she trusts my judgment, and that she wants to meet you, but you can stay. And if she doesn't like you when she meets you, I'll make you stay anyways." he said. "But I don't see how anyone couldn't like you, really." he added as an after thought.

She smiled.

"Come on." he said. "Let's watch a movie."

They were going through the motions.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam fell asleep half way through the movie she had picked for them to watch. She was always asleep. Danny stroked her hair softly, her head on a pillow on his lap. He was amazed that one person could sleep so much.

When Jazz called to ask how things were going, he told her that Sam was alright, she seemed upbeat enough, besides the sleeping thing.

Jazz said that she wasn't surprised that she was sleeping so much. It's the only way to deal with the trauma. The only release from reality. When she was asleep, no one could get her. When she was asleep, her parents were still alive. He understood, but was still a little concerned. She was sleeping so much, it was then that Jazz reminded him about when they were attacked by the ghost that got away he had slept.

It was true. Danny slept for days after that attack, not only because of the injuries he had gotten, but because he was trying to get away from what had happened.

"I wish I could change it for her." he said quietly, brushing some hair behind her ear. He heard Jazz sigh on the other end. "I feel like I should be doing something."

"Well, Danny, it's probably about to get a whole lot worse. The police haven't come yet. And they're going to." She said. Danny felt his stomach lurch at the idea.

"I know." he said, removing his hand from the sleeping girl and resting it on the back of the couch. "Do you think they're going to take her to jail?"

"Well, Danny, I'm a psychologist, not a detective. But I would have to say it depends on the evidence. I do know that she will have to go to court. They're not going to let her sneak by."

"That's ridiculous. She was with me when it happened." Danny said. He didn't understand the law process, and was constantly frustrated with it.

"But they don't know that for a fact, Little Brother. For all they know you two conspired." Danny scoffed. "I know it's horrible, but they have to eliminate the no's. It's just the way it works. Don't you ever watch TruTV?" he smiled.

He and Jazz used to watch TruTV all the time together. It was their favorite.

When they hung up Danny watched Sam sleep, he felt a little weird at first, unable to draw his eyes away from her, but it faded when she sighed.

She was so beautiful. How could someone so sweet get picked on so much at school.

Everyone at school was too shallow for their own good if they couldn't see her for who she was. She was awesome.

Just as he was settling back into the couch, pulling her closer, he felt the all too familiar cold in his lungs as a freezing mist leaked through his throat. Sighing exasperatedly, he dropped his head to the back of the couch.

This was _so _not what he needed right now.

Slowly holding Sam up from his lap, he slipped from under her, setting her gently on the couch cushion.

He stared at her for a moment, her breakdown earlier fresh in his mind. She was so scared to be alone. He was tempted to just turn on the shield and let the ghost be, but his heart wrenched at the idea. He grabbed the pad of paper that lived on the coffee table and a Sharpie from the kitchen, scribbling a quick, but large, so she didn't miss it "Ghost." on it and setting it back on the table.

He sighed again and changed quickly, shooting through the ceiling and looking around. Seeing nothing he rolled his eyes to the sky.

"What the heck." he muttered flying silently around his home. He paused, trying to sense where the ghost was, his eyes scanning the whiteness of his back yard. He was again met with nothing, so he shrugged and returned to his living room, shifting silently back to human he went to the couch, when he finally looked at the couch Sam wasn't there.

That was odd, she was so asleep, he had only been gone for a few minutes.

"Sam?" he called, looking in the kitchen, he felt something move behind him and he turned quickly, scanning the entryway into his kitchen. There was nothing. Danny felt his breath quicken. "Sam!" He was yelling now, his breath shallow as he ran up the stairs two at a time, throwing the guest room door open he called out for her again. Nothing.

Where was she? Was she out looking for him? No, he would've seen her, or heard her yell for him. Running to his room down the hall he practically threw the door down her name hot on his lips when he froze.

There she was, suspended in air by a hand gripping her around her small waist non-too gently, attached to that hand was_ him_. Danny was going to faint, this wasn't happening.

"You." He managed to choke out.

"Me," the creature purred, his red eyes boring into Danny, the crooked smile on his face making Danny want to vomit.

"Let her go." He said, cursing the way his voice shook. He tensed as the creature from his nightmares slithered closer to him, keeping Sam out of his reach. Danny locked eyes with her, they were both so scared, he felt so helpless.

"Why should I do that, Danny Phantom? How much does she mean to you?" It was horrible. He was too close to Danny, he was going to be sick. Danny had been stupid when Nathair caught Jazz, acting on emotion alone, but this situation had to be handled delicately, something Danny wasn't used to doing.

Nathair's question was a double edged sword. If Danny said everything then she would be taken away. If he said nothing then Nathair would surely kill her. Saying everything would be a lie anyways, she didn't really mean everything to him, but she meant a whole lot, and he would do anything so she wouldn't get hurt, but everything? That's a lot for a seventeen year old boy to feel.

"Please," was all that happened. His brain couldn't form words. "Please, she's..." He paused, trying to find a word that wouldn't damage the situation further. "She's important to me." Nathair's smile widened and he pulled Sam close to him.

"You hear that, girl? You're important to him." Sam winced away from him, making Danny's heart stop. Nathair brought her close to his face, smelling her. "You're quite a catch, my dear."

He was going to faint. Why was this happening? He was immobilized by Nathair, what kind of a hero was he? He couldn't even go ghost. His brain couldn't do anything. He watched as Sam grimaced when he squeezed her tighter and cracked.

"Take me," Sam's eyes widened, as did Nathair's who turned to look back at him "Take me instead. Please don't hurt her." As quickly as the surprise came to Nathair's face it was gone and Danny watched as the taunting smile formed back on to his broken features, his black flaky skin cracking slightly from the stretch and his crooked rotten teeth making Danny dizzy. He was a horrible creature from all angles.

"What makes you think I want you, boy?" Nathair ran his talon-like finger down Danny's arm, raising goosebumps, Danny stood his ground.

"I'm Danny Phantom, who doesn't want me? You'd be the most respected ghost in the Ghost Zone. Danny Phantom gave himself up to you." He watched as Nathair chewed on his words, drinking them in. His eyes flashed to Sam, she looked like she was going to scream.

"That's quite an offer, Daniel." Danny winced at his words, Nathair sounded too much like Vlad for his taste sometimes. "But I think I'll pass. Your girl here is a beautiful prize."

Danny's teeth clenched and shifted to Phantom. "Why are you doing this? Why can't you leave me alone? Sam didn't do anything to you!" Danny could feel his hands grow warm, the knowledge that it had caught fire from his anger not fully registering. "What can I do?"

Nathair turned calmly to him. "There's nothing you can do, Danny Phantom. I do this for you." Danny felt his fuse getting shorter, loosing control of his anger. "How's your sister?"

Danny growled and rushed Nathair, who grabbed him by his head, his long claw nails clutching his cheeks. Danny gasped, the sudden impact of the hand knocking the wind out of him.

"Danny!" Sam screamed, clutching Nathair's fingers. "Don't hurt him!"

Nathair ignored her, squeezing tighter, his middle finger drawing blood. "Temper temper, my boy. No need."

"You're disgusting." Danny said, gripping the man's peeling arm as he was lifted off the ground.

"_I'm_ disgusting? I think you have this turned around, Daniel." Nathair said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Danny gasped, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

"You live both lives, Danny Phantom. You take life for granted. You think you an have everything you want because you have the best of both worlds. You're to scared to pick which live you'd rather lead, and too scared of yourself to do anything about it." Danny chanced a glance at Sam, she was crying. "You are the most feared and most respected ghost, and you're nothing but a disgusting human coward who can't even save the one he loves from _me._"

"I didn't ask for this." he gritted out. "I would never ask for this." Nathair's grip tightened once more and he dropped Sam, she slumped to the floor screaming at him as he slammed Danny into the wall.

"Then _do_ something about it! You created yourself. _You _created this monster that is Danny Phantom. _You _decided that you were going to be the hero. You have no obligation to any of these people. They don't care about you. They don't love you. They're scared of you. _You're _the reason a majority of the ghosts that come to attack your pathetic town come. _You are disgusting._"

"What can I do? What can I do!" Danny yelled, putting his feet flat against the wall, his knees drawn close to him so he wouldn't be dangling helplessly. "There's _nothing_ I can do about it! _Nothing_!" Nathair brought his face close to Danny's.

"You can leave." he purred. Danny hissed out as Nathair applied more pressure to his chest, groaning as he heard a crack.

"No. I can't. I can't leave my family." Danny's head was getting light. He closed his eyes.

"Your family would never accept you." Nathair muttered, his face still close to Danny's. "It won't be the same."

"They will." Danny whispered. "They love me."

"No, you're disgusting, remember?" Danny's grip tighted around Nathair's thick arm.

"I'm not. You are, I can feel." Danny said, opening his eyes again. "I can feel love."

"That makes you weak. I thought you were smart enough to know that." Nathair said, dropping Danny and moving back to Sam, who had huddled herself in a corner. Danny gasped loudly, holding his abdomen, two of his ribs were definitely broken. "Come on, love." Nathair said, holding his hand out to Sam. "I will take you to a much better place than this. I'll treat you the way that this peon never could."

"Don't touch her." Danny strained out. Trying to get to his feet. "Please." He stumbled forwards and fell again.

"Danny." Sam said, tears streaming down her face. "Please, don't hurt him." Nathair stepped back from her, looking at Danny.

"Humans are pathetic." he growled, snatching Danny and throwing him to the other side of the room, Sam screamed and Nathair glared hard at her, snatching her up by her waist and tucking her under his arm. "Don't worry, princess. He'll come find you. He always does." He purred, smiling at Danny.

Danny watched as he pulled Sam closer and sank through the floor, Sam screaming the whole way down.

He closed his eyes.

Nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

Tucker was getting worried.

That was the understatement of the year. Tucker was getting _really _worried.

Danny hadn't answered his phone in two days, and after the first day it started going straight to voice mail, that wasn't like him. Danny never let his phone leave his sight. Yelling at him through the home phone speaker wasn't doing anything either. Finally deciding enough was enough he left the warmth of his home and comfort of his computer and trudged to the Fenton household, after telling his mother of course. He wasn't going to go through that again.

When he got to the house, he didn't even bother knocking, fishing for his keys he found the one that fit into the door and pushed it open slowly, sticking his head in.

"Danny?" he said, stepping in and closing the door behind him. "Sam?"

The house was lit and he took of his coat and scarf, hanging them on the wall he walked into the living room.

"Where are they?" he muttered to himself, looking down at the coffee table he noticed the note Danny had left for Sam. "Ghost? This hasn't been moved..." Tucker rushed to the yellow kitchen, sticking his head in before moving quickly to the basement door, he called down to them, listening only to be met with nothing. He slammed the heavy door and ran up the stairs, throwing Danny's bedroom door open he gasped when he saw Phantom passed out on the carpet near his closet.

"Dude!" Tucker ran to him, scared to touch him. The only good part of this situation was that when he fainted he hadn't reverted back to Fenton. If he had, Danny would surely be dead, his lack of necessity for air and blood as Phantom is what would keep him alive.

"Tucker..." Danny muttered, moving his arm.

"Danny, dude, don't move. What happened? Where's Sam?" Danny groaned, and turned so he was laying on his back. "Don't switch back." Danny nodded and settled into the floor, trying not to concentrate on his broken ribs. "Where's Sam, Danny? Who took her?" Danny was silent. "Did she leave on her own?" Danny shook his head. "A ghost took her?"

Danny nodded, "Nnn..."

"Nn? Norm?" Danny shook his head. "No?"

"Nn..." Tucker waited, "Nathair." Danny muttered, sighing, Tucker gasped.

"Nathair took her? He was here? He came back?" He asked, becoming frantic. "He did this to you?"

"Please," he asked, "Help me up," Danny said, lifting his arms.

"No, dude, you need to stay right there, I'll get you a pillow."

"Give me the phone, call Jazz." Danny winced, gripping his side. Tucker jumped to his feet, running to Danny's bed to get a pillow, before moving back to his wounded friend, carefully setting the pillow under his head.

"Don't switch back," Tucker said again, wiping his hands on his jeans and going back to the kitchen to get the cordless phone, dialing Jazz's number as he ran back up the stairs.

When he heard the phone click on the other end he didn't even bother letting her say hello.

"Jazz! Come home. Nathair came back, he took Sam. Danny's hurt bad." Tucker yelled quickly, he heard her stutter on the other end, processing what he just told her.

"What?" she asked, sounding confused.

"Nathair took Sam," Tucker said slower, "He hurt Danny real bad."

"Put Danny on." she said, her tone suddenly serious. Tucker went to his knees on the floor, putting the receiver up to his friend's ear.

"Jazz," he whispered. "He took her. I couldn't stop him." Danny felt tears stinging the corner's of his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing them back. "Please, come home."

"Danny, I-" she was quiet. "The snow Danny, no flight is going to let me leave right now." Tucker watched as Danny's eyes closed tighter and he threw a spandex covered arm over them, sighing shakily. "I wish I could, Danny. Please, everything will work out."

"What am I going to do?" he asked, not caring that his voice cracked. He was so frustrated. How could he let this happen again? Sam didn't deserve any of this. He heard Jazz sniffle on the other end.

"I don't know," she whispered. "How badly are you hurt?"

Danny sighed, composing himself before speaking again. "He got my ribs again, I don't know how many, and I probably have a concussion."

"You've been out for two days, dude." Tucker said quietly. Danny's eyes shot open and he stared blankly at his friend. "I've been trying to call you for two days. I was really worried, I guess I had a good reason." Danny felt his heart speed up.

Two days? This wasn't possible. He needed to get Sam. Sam has been with Nathair for two days. She probably thought that he didn't care about her.

"Danny?" Jazz's voice on the other end.

"Get me up." He said, leaning up on his elbows, Tucker dropped the phone, shifting to a crouching position his arms out around Danny ready to help him if he were to fall.

"What are you talking abou-" Tucker's eyes were wide and he gasped when his friend barked at him.

"Get me up, Tucker!" Danny's eyes flashed brighter and Tucker closed his mouth as Danny leaned over, grabbing his arm and hoisting himself up. "I have to go get her," he said, not looking Tucker in the eye.

"You're insane," Tucker yelled, concerned. "How do you expect to help anyone like _this_?" Danny put his hands on his knees, his eyes screwed shut, shuttering as he began to switch back to Fenton. The halos froze at his abdomen, a little of his white shirt peaking through and Tucker watched with amazement as Danny willed them back, keeping himself as Phantom.

"I have to try." He muttered, lifting his head, leaving Tucker the only option of staring as Danny crouched lower, reminding Tucker of a cat, and then pounced into the air, zooming out of his room and down the stairs to the basement.

Tucker knew he would never catch up with his half-ghost friend, and didn't bother. He instead leaned down and picked up the concerned yelling phone, holding it away from his ear until it fell silent.

"Your brother is insane."

* * *

As Danny flew through the Ghost Zone he tried not to let his eyes close. If he hadn't gone out for two days then he probably would have Sam back, and he definitely would be better off. How was it that when you were passed out for two days you felt more tired? Pushing through it he pressed forward, avoiding any obstacles that came his way. He couldn't really remember where Nathair lived in the Ghost Zone and paused in his flight.

He needed to go talk to someone that knew. Someone that could help him.

Racking his wounded brain to come up with a familiar face in this wasteland, the slots finally landed on Clockwork. Clockwork would steer him in the right direction.

Regaining his speed he changed his course and set out for Clockworks lair, as he passed his all to familiar markers he began to feel heavy.

He closed his eyes tightly, slowing, sighing, then opened them again, forcing himself back to full speed.

Before he could react to it, his eyes rolled back and he fell. When he hit the rock slab beneath him he groaned, giving in, letting his head rest on the concrete.

Why was this happening? Why was this happening?

Why was this happening?


End file.
